Getting to the top of a Congressional committee with foreign policy implications is reserved mostly for the lunatic hawks, and Congressmen who are reasonable are usually anonymous.

But maybe a little less anonymous today, after 118 members of the House of Representatives signed a letter[1] calling for talks with incoming Iranian President Hassan Rohani.

That’s not going to sit well with the Israel Lobby, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already made it clear that the he wants the US to treat Rohani with hostility, and the Obama Administration has already suggested that’s the path they’re going with.

Making a deal is easy, and under Ahmadinejad, the US had a ready-made excuse to not make good deals with Iran, one that they exercised repeatedly when deals seemed close. With Rohani taking over and 118 members of Congress on board, not making a deal will be all the more difficult.